Gypsum industry news

China: Grenzebach BSH, a leading global supplier of process and production technologies, has received a ‘significant’ order from XINFA Group for the supply of two gypsum wallboard lines to XINFA’s existing production plant at its headquarters in Chiping-Liaocheng, Shandong Province. XINFA, one of the world’s leading aluminium manufacturers, will expand its gypsum wallboard production capacity to approximately 830,000m²/day (273Mm²/yr). This will make its plant the world’s largest, and is the second time that XINFA has relied on Grenzebach’s expertise.

XINFA Group runs its own coal-fired power plants to cover the high electricity requirements of its aluminium plants. Flue gas desulphurisation (FGD) gypsum is produced during the purification of the exhaust gases. Using Grenzebach equipment, XINFA has been able to recycle this gypsum to produce gypsum wallboard since 2021.

Robert Brier, CEO of Grenzebach BSH, said “The project demonstrates how close we are to our customers and our competitiveness, as well as our innovative strength in supplying manufacturing plants with a focus on sustainability aspects. By recycling the FGD gypsum, we are supporting our customer’s circular economy, while at the same time using the electricity generated and the waste heat from the power plants to operate the gypsum dryers and systems.”

Grenzebach said earlier this month that it is going to invest around Euro2m on growing its presence in Pune. The current sales and service branch will be merged with a new production site in the city in Maharashtra. The site will be used for the assembly of conveyor equipment and welding work for dryers and lehr ovens for the glass industry. Production at the new unit is expected to start in October 2023 and it will create around 30 new jobs.

The decision by the Germany-based equipment supplier to expand in India follows Saint-Gobain’s expansion plans in India. It said in late 2022 that it was planning to spend US$215m towards capacity expansion plans in 2023 as part of a larger investment in the region, of US$970m between 2022 and 2025. Its stated aim for the new investment is to grow its revenue to US$4.4bn in 2032 from US$1.5bn in 2022. To break this down, half of the group’s turnover in India comes at present from glass-related businesses, 30% from gypsum and construction chemicals and the rest from abrasives, ceramics and life sciences. Some examples of this planned investment include the acquisition by Saint-Gobain of Rockwool India, a stone wool manufacturer, in February 2023 and an agreement to buy UP Twiga Fiberglass, a glass wool producer. Saint-Gobain is the biggest gypsum wallboard producer by capacity in India with four plants, followed by USGKnauf, which runs two plants, and various independent producers.

Growing the wallboard market in India has long seemed like an enticing prospect given the country’s demographics, low production capacity per capita compared to Europe and North America, and sustainability trends. However, despite all of this, it is taking a long time to get there. One commentator on LinkedIn has suggested that this may be down to reticence from the construction sector to adopt the product. In his view wallboard in India has mainly been used for ceilings and for commercial and industrial applications but not for residential projects. Producers, such as Saint-Gobain are likely to be well aware of this. So it is interesting to note that two projects in India picked up awards in Saint-Gobain’s International Gypsum Trophy in 2023.

On the crude gypsum side, data from the Indian Bureau of Mines and the United States Geological Survey (USGS) show that India produced an estimated 4.3Mt of gypsum from its mines from reserves of 37Mt. These reserves are far smaller than other countries with large populations such as China, the US, Brazil or Türkiye. The country also produced an estimated 2.1Mt of flue gas desulfurisation (FGD) gypsum in the 2023 – 2023 financial year. However, the Cement Manufacturers Association (CMA) estimates that its sector used 13 – 17Mt in 2020 – 2021 when cement production was 331Mt and that this is forecast to rise to 20 – 25Mt in 2024 – 2025 when cement production reaches 491Mt. This corresponds to the 4 – 5% of gypsum that it is added to clinker when grinding it to manufacture ordinary Portland cement (OPC) and other cement types.

In acknowledgment of this gap between mining and usage, the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) started promoting recycling gypsum from fertiliser production and power plants in May 2023. So far, its main focus has been on improving access to phosphogypsum stockpiles, although the target for FGD production is an ambitious 9.9Mt by 2025 – 2026. Unsurprisingly, gypsum exporters have benefitted from this situation. Oman, reportedly, exported nearly 5Mt of gypsum to India in 2022. Historically, Thailand and Iran have also supplied the Indian market with gypsum.

India remains the great maybe for wallboard adoption outside of North America and Europe. The latest round of investment by Saint-Gobain and Grenzebach may yet deliver on this. Both companies are looking at a range of light materials including glass and insulation not just wallboard. So far though, the main merger and acquisition activity by Saint-Gobain has been targeted on insulation companies. Once or if Saint-Gobain or anyone else starts buying gypsum companies or building new plants then we will have a sense that something is changing. Alongside this, the DPIIT’s plans to recycle more gypsum may help bring further attention to the local gypsum sector.

Belgium: Eurogypsum, the European federation of national associations of producers of gypsum products, is lobbying for building materials such as gypsum to be included in a list of critical and strategic raw materials as part of the European Union’s (EU) proposed Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA). The organisation welcomes the CRMA but wants it to also consider the energy renovation of the building stock in addition to raw earth minerals such as those required to build batteries. It has suggested either amending the proposed act to include certain building materials as strategic or introducing a new category of ‘essential’ raw materials, with streamlined permitting processes and access to finance.

It noted that Europe was, in principle, self sufficient in gypsum due to abundant deposits. However, it said that, “increasing difficulties in the access to extractive permits, combined with the foreseen reduction of alternative gypsum sources from the flue gas desulphurisation of coal power plants in the energy transition, are raising serious concerns about the future supply of this mineral essential for the construction and renovation of buildings.”

The CRMA was originally announced by EU President Ursula von der Leyen in September 2022 before being formally proposed in March 2023. It is now being considered by the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union.

Bosnia & Herzegovina: The shareholders assembly of state-owned power company RiTE Ugljevik has approved the signing of contracts for the sale of gypsum and coal with Beijing New Building Materials (BNBM) Ugljevik. The project intends to build a 40Mm²/yr gypsum wallboard plant and it has a budget of Euro50m, according to the Sarajevo Times. RiTE Ugljevik previously agreed to supply 250,000t/yr of flue gas desulfurisation (FGD) to the proposed wallboard plant.

World: Market research and consulting services provider Exactitude Consultancy has projected a composite annual growth rate in global gypsum demand of 4.2% between 2022 and 2029. The consultancy forecast that the market would reach US$2.14bn in value at the end of the period, up by 45% from US$1.48bn in 2021.

Germany: The German Gypsum Association (GIPS) has welcomed the publication of a government report that took an inventory of natural gypsum deposits. It supports the work as it allows its members to make qualified decisions about future planning. The Federal Commission on Geosciences (BLA-GEO) has created a register of gypsum supplies in the country. The association added that it believes there will be no large-scale alternatives to natural gypsum supplies in the foreseeable future. This is due to low volumes of gypsum recycling and falling production of flue gas desulfurisation (FGD) Gypsum as coal power plants are shut down.

Members of Eurogypsum, the European Gypsum Association, gathered at the Les Atelier des Tanneurs in Brussels on 27 - 28 April 2022 to formally celebrate the 60th Anniversary of their association, despite a delay of 12 months due to Covid restrictions. Over two days, they participated in meetings and panel sessions reminiscent of pre-pandemic times. Attending the Open Congress session on 28 April 2022, Global Gypsum found the event to be very dynamic and surprisingly open.

The Open Congress began with welcomes from the moderator, Knauf Insulation’s Sian Hughes and outgoing Eurogypsum President Emmanuel Normant, of Saint-Gobain. He introduced the past 60 years as one of ‘enormous change’ for the sector, but this was not meant to be a retrospective. Turning to the next 60 years, Normant said that gypsum’s inherent benefits, including its low embodied CO₂ emissions, recyclability, high degree of safety and ease of use, would make it even more crucial to global development in the future than in the past.

A series of quick-fire presentations from the industry’s big hitters then highlighted a wide range of ways to increase the sustainability of our sector.

Saint-Gobain’s Klaus Birk introduced Gyproc's project to switch its Fredrikstad wallboard plant in Norway to use a 100% electric wallboard production process by 2023. This will use renewable energy, predominantly sourced from hydroelectric power, and lead to a 70% drop in CO₂ emissions. This approach could be applicable to any wallboard plant with access to sufficient renewable power.

Knauf's Jörg Demmich then spoke about a project to extract gypsum from the ‘waste’ from the lithium production process. Even the best lithium ores only contain 3 - 6% lithium by mass, leaving 94 - 97% currently unused. As electric mobility grows, by-product gypsum from the lithium sector could partly offset the expected fall in flue-gas desulphurisation (FGD) gypsum supplies.

Iryna Yermakova introduced the Etex Group's approach to the wallboard plant of the future. One area she highlighted was the potential for prefabrication at the wallboard plant before panels reach the job site. This has the potential, on some projects, to save up to 10% of the wallboard cost, transport cost and CO₂ emissions of the board used. Surely a quick win for contractors.

Nikolai Halle from Cobuilder introduced the Define tool, freely-available to the construction sector. Define will act like the Swift payment system, but for sustainability data instead of financial data. This would unify different sustainability metrics to cut through the confusing terms used by producers and reveal the 'real' performance of different products, rather than how effectively their attributes are marketed.

The keynote presentation, from the former European Commissioner for the Environment Janez Potočnik – ‘The Father of the Circular Economy’ - then highlighted why innovation is key, not only to the future of the gypsum sector, but to the planet itself. At current rates, the mass of man-made material will be three times larger than all biomass by 2040.

To avoid this, Potočnik argued that the entire economy needs to become service-based, rather than product-based. Under such a model, wallboard producers would become part of the ‘building envelope services sector’ rather than selling wallboard. The desire is then to sell wallboard with a long service life, that can be repurposed and recycled, rather than selling ever-increasing volumes of board.Taking this approach across the entire economy would help society to maximise gross domestic product while reducing environmental impacts, eventually decoupling them from each other entirely. Potočnik concluded that nature is already the 'perfect' circular economy. Humans just need to reintegrate into it.

To say that the panel discussion that followed was ‘lively’ would be an understatement. Member of the European Parliament Iskra Mihaylova, speaking the day after Russia halted gas supplies to her native Bulgaria, said that talk of energy independence and solidarity was 'not enough' and that Europe needed to act on the European Union Green Deal, particularly with a view to energy and resource efficiency and security.

Josefina Lindblom, the European Commission’s Policy Officer for Sustainable Buildings for Circular Economy, introduced what she hoped would become the next buzzword: ‘sufficiency’ - properly taking pause to consider what is truly required of new buildings. This includes the need to apply full circularity to renovation projects.

Adrian Joyce, from the European Alliance of Companies for Energy Efficiency in Buildings, asked the audience to think not in terms of 'energy efficiency,' but 'conservation of energy.' The two terms are subtly different, with the latter akin to ‘sufficiency.' Both point to the need to reduce the use of resources, not just the effectiveness which we use increasing amounts of resources.

Tristan Suffys, Secretary General of Eurogypsum, said that gypsum is well suited to fit into the low-CO₂, low-resource-use sector of the future. He called for re-use of derelict buildings, re-purposing and optimising the use of space by building above existing buildings.

The Open Congress drew to a close with a speech by the incoming President of Eurogypsum (and Head of Corporate Social Responsibility at Etex) Jörg Ertle. He told Eurogypsum members that the 'doors' marked 'Green Deal,' 'Decarbonisation,' and 'Recycling' were all 'open' and that they should be making the most of the opportunities behind each. From Global Gypsum’s perspective, it seems that they have burst through each of the doors into the rooms behind. Some are even measuring up for wallboard.

In conclusion, it appears that the European wallboard sector is at the start of a major increase in sustainability efforts. This will be backed by politicians who are keen to decouple their economies from Russia’s and a public that is increasingly asking for change. And, with three major global producers - Knauf, Saint-Gobain and Etex - based in Europe, between them sharing 47% of the world’s wallboard capacity, we can expect to see these innovations spread to other regions rapidly.

Here’s to the next 60 years!

Bosnia and Herzegovina: State-owned power company RiTE Ugljevik has agreed to supply 250,000t/yr of gypsum for Beijing New Building Materials (BNBM)’s upcoming Ugljevik gypsum wallboard plant in Semberija Region. The power supplier produced 300,000t of flue gas desulphurisation (FGD) gypsum in 2022.

Romania: Etex Building Performance has announced plans to build a Euro6m sludge drying unit at Oltenia Energy Complex’s (OEC) Rovinari coal-fired power plant in Oltenia. The subsidiary of Belgium-based Etex will derive synthetic gypsum from the unit for use at its Turceni wallboard plant, according to Economica. It already operates a similar sludge drying unit at OEC’s Turceni coal-fired power plant.

Industrial director Gheorghe Budrugeac said "We count on the fact that both the OEC and the local and central authorities will understand the importance of the investment for the local community and the positive impact on the environment, therefore we expect no delays in the approval process."

Romania: Etex has proposed investing Euro6m at the Rovinari thermal power plant run by Oltenia Energy in order to secure supplies of flue gas desulphurisation (FGD) gypsum for its Turceni wallboard plant. It wants to build a desulphurisation unit at the power plant following falling energy production at the Turceni power plant, according to Economica. Etex is currently in negotiation with Oltenia Energy over the proposal.